


Close My Eyes From My Recent Disgrace

by AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate



Series: Sanders Sides Inktober 2018 [13]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Death, Domesticity, Dorks in Love, Family, Fluff, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-13
Packaged: 2019-08-02 01:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16296083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate/pseuds/AshesStarsAndRedStringsOfFate
Summary: Thomas moved to this small town expecting an average, normal, boring life. What he found instead was a new family. Sure, they were weird, but it was all worth it. Even if he did have to deal with a lot more smashed dishware than he’d like.Written for Inktober Day 13: Specter.





	Close My Eyes From My Recent Disgrace

**Author's Note:**

> … Internet still isn’t fixed, so have this a day late. 
> 
> Heads up, a couple of my OCs slipped their way in there. Whoops. They’re not super important, though, so no need to worry. 
> 
> By the way, I am starting a series off of this after October. It’s going to deal with some dark and potentially triggering topics, but none of those are brought up in this story. I’ll warn you ahead of time on what triggers there are, don’t worry. Anyway, thank you for clicking, and enjoy!

Thomas woke up to a house that was at least twenty degrees colder than he remembered it being when he went to sleep last night. That could only mean one thing: Virgil was having a bad day. Thomas sighed and heaved himself out of bed, prepared to maybe call in sick for the day. He had sick days to burn, after all. He didn’t even bother changing out of his pyjamas, just grabbing his phone and walking downstairs, fully prepared to deal with the situation, whatever it may be. 

 

 

He emerged into the living room to find Virgil standing in front of a shaking Logan, glaring at Roman with murder in his violet eyes. Literally, Thomas swore that his eyes were glowing with rage. Patton appeared to be attempting to moderate, a pinched smile on his normally genial face. 

 

 

“What happened, guys? Because the house is like twenty degrees colder than it should be,” Thomas asked, projecting his voice and adding in an undercurrent of sterness. He’d learned the hard way that that was the only way to get Roman to listen to you when he was engaged in a Battle of the Murder Eyes. 

 

 

“Logan and I were merely having a disagreement, and then Virgil here threatened to destroy the painting!” Roman complained, his bright red eyes shooting even more daggers in Virgil’s direction. 

 

 

“Oh yeah, after you made him go into a panic attack because  _ someone  _ thought it was a good idea to tower over him!” Virgil shot back, the temperature dropping at least two degrees as he spoke. 

 

 

“Now, kiddo, Roman didn’t mean it-” Patton started, but was cut off as Virgil shot him a glare almost as venomous as the one he was giving Roman. 

 

 

“Like hell he didn’t! He just casually ‘forgot’ how Logan died!” Virgil growled, his eyes resembling a neutron star imploding at this point. Ice began to form around his hands, and Thomas figured that he should probably step in right now unless he wanted this to turn nasty. He slid in between the angry ghosts, ignoring every single survival instinct screaming at him to do anything  _ but that _ , and held his hands up in a placating gesture. 

 

 

“Hey, guys, let’s all calm down, okay?” he soothed, hoping and praying that Virgil still had enough sense to not attack him too. Patton instantly backed away to let Thomas handle it, inching his way out of Virgil’s sight and around the back of the couch to get to Logan, who Thomas could now see had two silvery tear tracks running down his face. Roman growled low in his throat, and Thomas braced himself for the inevitable confrontation. 

 

 

“Why don’t you tell Darkness Personified over there to calm down first?!” Roman shrieked, his voice reaching octaves that Thomas didn’t think possible. Virgil shot back with a heated “Tell him to apologize to Logan first!” Thomas sighed and gritted his teeth. He loved his unexpected housemates, he really did, but it was at times like this that he remembered how difficult they could be. 

 

 

“I have nothing to apologize for!” “Oh, sure, you didn’t just make him curl up crying on the couch because you can’t control your temper.” “He’s the one who escalated the situation!” “And you’re the one who made it worse!” “You didn’t need to get involved.” “Like hell I wouldn’t jump to my boyfriend’s defense.” “He didn’t need it!” “Says who?!” “Listen here, you little-” 

 

 

“ENOUGH!” Logan screamed. Roman and Virgil both instantly fell silent, and Logan looked at them both with tear-stained cheeks, his voice shaky. 

 

 

“It was my fault, alright? It was my stupid brain chemistry kicking in at the worst possible moment. Stop blaming each other, stop plotting murder, and just…  _ stop _ , okay?” 

 

 

“Oh, honey, no, it’s not your fault,” Patton soothed, going to wrap his arms around Logan. His arms passed right through his small frame, and Patton’s eyes filled with so deep a sadness, Thomas wondered how he could still smile. Logan was the only one of the ghosts that no one could touch, not even Roman, and Patton, in his need to offer comfort, had forgotten that his prime method would fail him in this instance. Logan sniffled and wiped at his eyes, offering Patton a watery smile. 

 

 

“Thank you for trying, Patt. I truly do appreciate it,” he said, his voice soft. Thomas stepped forward then, eager to resolve this situation as soon as possible. He really should go to work today, but he didn’t want to leave Logan and Roman alone in the house together. 

 

 

“Logan, how do you feel about coming to school with me today? I’m introducing the kids to a new topic, and I think I’d like your help on it,” Thomas offers, hoping his solution goes over well. Logan sniffs again but nods while Virgil shoots Thomas a murderous glare. 

 

 

“Relax, Virgil. I think getting out of the house for the day will do me some good. Try not to murder Roman while I’m gone, eh?” Logan soothed, standing smoothly before following Thomas back upstairs. Thomas quickly prepared for the day before swinging downstairs to grab a muffin and a coffee that Patton and Roman had somehow prepared for him with Virgil’s help. He slung his bag over his shoulder and paused at the front door, looking at Logan. 

 

 

“Are you ready?” he asked, bracing himself for the cold sensation he knew was coming. Logan nodded, and in the space between one breath and the next, Logan nestled himself in next to Thomas’s soul while leaving Thomas in full control of the body. There was still a lot of Logan in there, but he’d gotten better at not taking full control when it wasn’t necessary, something that Thomas was immensely grateful for. 

 

 

“Bye, guys! Try not to murder each other while I’m gone!” Thomas called before exiting the house and starting his ten-minute walk to the local high school he taught at. Once he was a decent distance away from the house (about three blocks), Thomas mumbled “Okay, Lo, you can come out if you want.” Logan immediately materialized next to Thomas, trepidation still painting his face. Thomas understood completely. The only way for a ghost to leave the area they were tied to was to possess another human with the human’s consent, and they weren’t supposed to stay outside if they ever left the host. Of course, Thomas had found a loophole in that and had spent the better part of a month tracking down objects that had once belonged to each of his boys that could act as portable conduits when he left the house. It only worked if they possessed him before he left, but it kept them outside the house if they ever chose to leave his body, which Thomas counted as a huge success on his end. It was worth it to have to deal with all of his boys’ weird relatives if he could see them happy and relaxed like this. 

 

 

“You sure you’re okay, Lo?” Thomas asked, glancing over the specter in concern. Logan affectionately rolled his eyes and responded with an exasperated “Yes, Thomas, I’m fine. My neurotransmitters just acted up, that’s all.” 

 

 

“If you say so, Lo,” Thomas answered, skepticism practically dripping from his voice. The former teacher had a habit of downplaying his problems until they became too big to ignore. Thomas resolved to either keep an eye on him himself, or have one of his students do it for him. Logan needed the help today, and gosh dangit, Thomas was going to give him it.

* * *

 

“Morning, Mr. Sanders! Morning, Logan!” Thomas turned around from writing the lesson plan for today on the board to see Danielle Leifsson, one of his more enthusiastic students. Her long blonde hair was tucked behind one ear, and her grin threatened to fall off her face with how large it was. Thomas secretly smiled to himself. Logan was Dani’s favourite, and best of all, she understood Logan’s issues, having dealt with her best friend’s similar situation for many years. She was perfect. 

 

 

“Good morning, Dani! Quick question: I’m super busy today, and I don’t want Logan getting bored. Would you mind if he went around with you today?” Thomas asked. Logan’s eyes widened, but Dani ignored it, her grin growing even larger. 

 

 

“Absolutely, Mr. Sanders! Do I need to do anything in particular?” she asked, slipping into what Patton had affectionately dubbed her Serious Student Mode. 

 

 

“Yeah, I just need to you keep this necklace close and give it back to me at the end of the day. Think you can do that?” Thomas answered, handing over the thin silver chain that held Logan’s old engagement ring. Dani took it carefully and fastened it around her neck after gaining Logan’s approval. With that, she grinned, dropped her backpack at her desk, and bounced out of the room, calling back “I’ll be back, Mr. Sanders!” Logan followed her, shooting Thomas one last panicked glance before following the bubbly blonde athlete to wherever she was going. Thomas wasn’t worried; almost everyone in the school knew about the ghosts by now. And if they didn’t… well… better they met Logan first than Roman. 

 

 

The five minute warning bell rang twenty-five minutes later, and students began to flood into his room. All of them waved hello or murmured a verbal greeting, and Thomas couldn’t blame them. He’d rather be in bed still as well. 

 

 

“Morning, Mr. Sanders. No ghost today?” Alessa Alvarez called, strolling in in her usual bright red flannel and cream Converse high tops. Her fluffy ponytail was filled with even more curls than usual today, making Thomas think that she’d woken up late. The curlier her hair, the later she woke up. 

 

 

“No, he’s here, he’s just off with Dani right now,” Thomas replied, opening up his Powerpoint for the day’s lesson. Alessa arched an eyebrow but shrugged, taking her usual seat to Dani’s right. 

 

 

“Mr. Sanders, can I just go to sleep?” Shiloh Mizrah groaned as he walked in, his chestnut-auburn hair flopping into his brilliant green eyes. His boyfriend, Keith Choi, elbowed him from behind, glaring. 

 

 

“If I’m up, you’re up,” he grumbled before giving Thomas a two-fingered salute. “Morning, Mr. Sanders.” 

 

 

“Good morning Keith, Shiloh. Late night?” Thomas asked, grinning. Keith stared Thomas dead in the eye, took a long sip of his extra-espresso coffee, and said “Bold of you to assume I slept at all.” Sometimes, Keith scarily reminded him of Virgil. Maybe he should ask Virgil about the possibility of the two of them being related. 

 

 

“Keith, do I need to drug your tea to make you go to sleep?” Alessa asked, concerned and angry at the same time. Keith rolled his eyes and dropped into his seat on Dani’s other side while Shiloh sat behind him. 

 

 

“That’s not going to help and you know it,” Keith replied, taking out his materials for class. Thomas made a mental note to bring Virgil tomorrow to talk to Keith about his unhealthy sleeping habits. 

 

 

Just before the final bell rang, Dani swept back in, Logan trailing behind her. Everyone in the class perked up at the sight of the ghost; when Logan was around, the lesson was sure to be interesting, especially if you could get him on a tangent about astronomy. This was a feat, Thomas thought, because this was an AP English course, not a science class. 

 

 

The bell rang, and Thomas called out “Okay, everyone, take out a notebook because we’re taking notes on how to write a good rhetorical essay today!” Groans went up from the class, and Logan smiled while “leaning” (read: floating in a tilted position) against the desk. 

 

 

“Think of it this way. If you do it now, you won’t have to do it in college,” Logan offered. The grumbles died down after that, and Thomas shot Logan a silent glance of thanks. Logan shrugged, and Thomas continued with his lesson. 

 

 

“Now, first, we’re going to study this graduation speech about women and their role in society. Can anyone point out at least one rhetorical device they see being used?”  

* * *

“So, who wants to watch a movie? I’m tired of grading essays,” Thomas asked later that night, putting down Shiloh’s essay on why libraries were crucial to American culture and society. The kid was brilliant, Thomas couldn’t deny that, but his handwriting was atrocious. Thomas was fairly certain he had started using Hebrew characters halfway through instead of English letters, and Thomas was too tired to decipher his scrawl. 

 

 

“Ooooh, me! Me! Can it be Disney?!” Roman cried, bouncing up and down. His aura started to glow brighter, and Thomas giggled a little at the ridiculously adorable sight. 

 

 

“Any objections?” Thomas asked. Logan looked up from where he and Virgil were attempting to solve a puzzle together and shrugged. Virgil seconded that motion and went back to pointing out where certain pieces should go so that Logan could telekinetically fit them together. Patton squealed and flopped down on the couch next to Thomas, narrowly missing Alessa’s (surprisingly) legible essay. Thomas put them all into a stack, separating out the graded ones from the non-graded ones, and selected Moana from the Netflix cue. He then settled back, content to just spend the rest of the night with his dead roommates. Thomas had moved to this small town expecting an average, normal, boring life. What he found instead was a new family, one that he wouldn’t trade for the world. Sure, they were weird, but it was all worth it. Even if he did have to deal with a lot more smashed dishware than he’d like. 

**Author's Note:**

> Welp... thanks for reading this hot mess. Feel free to scream at me in the comments, and I'll see you all tomorrow!
> 
> ~Ash


End file.
